Tragedy as man dies trying to save a woman he fired

A manager and the woman he dismissed fell off a cliff yesterday. The man died.

At about 1:15 p.m., Sachiko Fujinami, 61, and Yoshihisa Takeda, 64, fell off a 30-meter (108 feet) cliff near the Sanwa Shoji Company, a recycling facility, which Takeda ran at Yufu City in Oita prefecture. However, he resided in Oita City.

The two were rushed to the hospital, but Takeda hit his head and died, while Fujinami was unconscious and in critical condition.

According to the Oita police, immediately before they fell off the cliff, Takeda and his wife, 42, asked Fujinami to “please quit the company.”

Fujinami suddenly dashed out of the office and ran toward the cliffs. Takeda ran after her to try to stop her, but Fujinami came to an abrupt halt on the tip of the cliff, causing Takeda to overshoot and run off the cliff. When Fujinami saw Takeda lying at the bottom of the cliff, she also threw herself off the cliff.

The edge of the cliff was overgrown with bushes and trees, obscuring its edge, making it difficult to see. Takeda’s wife witnessed both individuals falling over the cliff.

According to Shingo Tanabe, a recruiter in Tokyo, asking someone to quit is a Japanese euphemism for firing somebody.

“Also, many Japanese claim it looks better on their record to quit versus being terminated,” he said. “I find it a lot better to give people 30 days notice.”

He added that no matter what anyone tells you, firing or laying someone off in Japan is just about the same as in the United States and the laws are similar.